The invention relates to a method of manufacturing structural reinforcing members called stiffeners.
A structure such as an aircraft fuselage comprises in particular a skin or covering and reinforcing members or stiffeners which are fastened to the skin and, for example, are disposed longitudinally relative to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage.
These stiffeners are members of elongate general shape and have a cross-section of given shape, for example Omega-shaped, T-shaped, etc.
A stiffener is generally manufactured from a textile preform.
As regards the preform, this is manufactured by flat draping then forming on a die of adapted shape under the action of a mold/press. The assembly is generally subjected to a preforming heat cycle to give cohesion to the textile preform by bonding the strands, the layers or the plies together either by polymerization of a thermosetting powder or by melting a thermoplastic material both deposited in small quantity on the plies.
However, the methods of the prior art do not make it possible to attain high increases in productivity and to manufacture preforms of great length.